Daniel conboy



(No Model.)

' D. CGNBO'Y.

CARRIAGE TOP SPRING.

No. 529,780. v Patented NW2?, 1894.

I KA

en (1o/f UNITED n STATES I yPATENT FFIOE.

DANIEL OONBOY, or TORONTO, ONTARIO, OANADA. Y

oA-RRI'AG E-TOP ISPIRI Ne.

SPECIFIQATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 529,780, dated November 27, 1894. Application filed February 26, 1894. Serial No. 501,535. (No model.) `Patented in Uanatla February 5, 1894, No. 45,241. L

."Z'o @ZZ whom it may concern: l

Be it known that I, DANIEL CONBOY, of the 'city of Toronto, in the county of York and Province of Ontario, Canada, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Garriage-Top Springs, (for which I have obtained a patent in Canada, N o. 45,241, bearing date February 5, 1894,) of which the following is a specication.

The object of the invention isto devise a simple and effective counterbalancing spring for carriage tops; and it consists, essentially,

of a combined coiled and torsional spring located in front of the pivot of the vertical brace and adapted to engage therewith by means of a hook integral with the said coil, substantiallyas hereinafter more particularly explained and then definitely claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1, is a perspective view of a carriage top provided with my improvedspring. Fig. 2, is an enlarged perspective detail of the spring and its connections when the carriage top is raised. Fig. 3, is a similar view of the same parts when the carriage top is lowered. Fig. 4, is a sectional elevation of the spring. Fig. 6, is an end elevation of the same.

Like letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the different figures.

A, is the carriage seat rail, on the arm B, of which the vertical braceO, is pivoted. Located in front of the said arm is the spring D, constructed as hereinafter more particularly set forth. This spring is carried by the bracket E, projecting from the arm B.

F, is -a hook formed integral with the spring D, and engaging with the brace 0, as shown..

On reference to Figs. 4 and 5, the arrangement of the spring D, will be readily understood.

G, is a sleeve connected to the bracket E. A portion Of the spring D, runs through this sleeve and is held from turning by being bent and inserted in the recesso. After emerging from the sleeve G, the -spring coils back toward the starting point and fin-ally terminates in the hook F, which engages with the brace C, as before described. From this arrangement of the spring,it will be seen that every coil is available for the purpose of producinga spring tension, and that further, the portion inside the sleeve G, acts as a torsional spring, the whole construction rendering a short spring as effective as a much longer spring of ordinary construction and connection. v

. From the location Of the spring in front of the pivot point of the brace C, it follows that as the carriage top is lowered, the point at which the hook acts is shifted closer and closer to the pivot point of the brace, and the leverage of the spring is thus decreased as its tension is increased, thus avoiding all tendency of the carriage top to jump when in its lowered position. (See Fig. 3.) Thisisarnostimportant feature in my spring, asv unless some such method is provided to compensate for the increased tension of the spring, ,other means must be provided to securely hold the top in its lowered position.

It 'will of course be understood that the spring D, and its connections are preferably duplicated'at the other side of the top, thus forming a very perfect counterbalance for the weight of the top when the latter is being raised or lowered.

In the drawings I show my improved spring appliedto a buggy top, but it is of course equally as well adapted for use in phaeton tops, in which case the side rails are dispensed with and the back rail made in two portions fastened to the back of `the opposite sides.

I am aware that it is not new to use springs for ther pnrposeof balancing carriage tops,` and therefore do not attempt to claim such broadly, but regard as important the position in which said springs are placed. It is new, so far as I know, to place the spring in such a position that as the top is lowered, the leverage of the spring is decreased, as said springs have heretofore been used in such a position that when the top was lowered, the tension of the spring was greatly increased, while the leverageremained the same, and this increase tends to elevate the top instead of allowing it to stayin its lowered position.. My improvement, on the contrary,- does not have this disadvantage for the reason, as heretofore explained, that as the tension increases, the

phaetonbody atl IOO leverage of the spring is decreased, because its acting part approaches nearer the pivot, thus avoiding all tendency of the carriage top to jump when in its lowered position.

What I claim as my invention is l. The combination in a carriage top and with the pivot thereof, of a coiled spring situated in front of said pivot and so arranged that its acting endwill swing behind sai-d pivot when said top is lowered, whereby the leverage of said spring decreases as its tension increases, substantially as described. I

2. In a carriage top, the sleeve G, in combination with the spring D, composed of a torsion part (b) connected at one end to the sleeve G, and extending throngh the same andof a coiled part arranged outside the' saidsleeve and terminating at or near thepoin-t of cori- 3. In a carriage top, the sleeve G, connected D, composed of a torsion part (b) connected at oneend to the sleeve G, and extending i? tlrrcugh the; same, andc'fa coiled part arranged outside the said sleeve and terminat- 1 ing at or near the point of connection of the part b', inl an arm engaging with the vertical brace C, substantially as and for the purpose t. specified. p p

Toronto, February 23, 1894..

DANIEL CONB'OY.

ln presenc'sgarrot'f-` A. l\d.\'.lln1rr1,Y

FRED CLARKE'.

with the rail, in combination with the spring i 

